City of Brea Freezes Firefighter Salaries

BREA – City officials have decided to freeze wages and step increases for the city’s firefighters in an effort to reduce future budget cuts.

The City Council imposed the measure to save $216,900 over the next year.

While the same freeze has been agreed to by other employee associations, the city and the firefighters reached an impasse in negotiations in recent months.

Dan Gibson, president of the Brea Firefighters’ Association, said the main point of contention was the step increase component, which prevents employees who are due step raises from getting them while those at top of the salary range remain unaffected.

“If there was a fly in the ointment in any of this, we didn’t think it was fair to the guys,” said Gibson, a Brea firefighter for 23 years. We didn’t feel all employees are equally bearing the burden.

Of the 40 members of the firefighters’ association, about 10 were due a step increase.

“We were willing to provide some other options so all employees could share the burden equally.”

Under collective bargaining law, if no agreement can be made after meeting and conferring in good faith, the city has the right to make unilateral changes or do nothing.

The contract between the city and the firefighters association had expired in January and the city council determined that some unilateral action be taken.

“We didn’t’ put up a fight,” Gibson said.